Let’s hear it for Keith Urban! Yes, perhaps J.Lo’s aura sparkles a little brighter. And, sure, Harry Connick Jr. gets all the new-kid-on-the-block buzz. But Keith — who survived both The Great Mariah Windbaggery of 2013 (™) and The Wrath of Nicki’s Wigs with his humor in tact — continues to be a gust of fresh air (in a tight, faded t-shirt).

Whether grooving and hooting during reigning champ Candice Glover’s killer vocal performance of “Cried” and “Same Kinda Man” — oh how I love that latter track! — or declaring that “My favorite Harry Connick Jr. song is ‘Jenny From the Block,'” Keith seems to take his job (but never himself) super seriously.

And even in a case where the “Judges’ Save” has clearly been left in a backstage storage locker (where it’s kept along with J.Lo’s heart at a chilly 22 degrees Fahrenheit), he’s still nice enough to play along and pretend he’s deliberating its usage.

In any event, shall we make like Ryan Seacrest — whose first pet was a goldfish named Sheila! — and get to the results?

Singing for Her Life
Kristen O’Connor: Adele’s “Turning Tables” — I won’t pile on Kristen while she’s down, so let’s just say this particular vocal just moved into a nice little studio apartment on the corner of Adequate Avenue and Eh Street.

Eliminated
Kristen O’Connor

A few other random thoughts from the episode:

* Do I actually miss the Ford Music Videos? [As if I’d answer that question for the entire Internet to see!]

* That opening mashup of “Counting Stars” and “Radioactive” — very reminiscent of So You Think You Can Dance‘s epic “Puttin on the Ritz,” BTW — looked and sounded better than any Idol group number (involving 10 or more singers) in my (middle-aged) memory. Also, when Majesty and Alex were side by side and all alone on the stage, I had a sudden “could this be the Final 2?” premonition. Anybody else think that?

* The “Judges’ Save” expires at Top 6 week this season.

* Next week’s theme is “Home.” Coincidentally, the Thursday telecast will feature Phillip Phillips debuting his new single!

* Which is most unbelievable?
A. That Ben Briley doesn’t know the meaning of kitschy
B. That J.Lo’s Idol contract allows a camera crew to enter her dressing room and grill her without any warning
C. That the judges weren’t unanimous about sending Kristen home
D. That Ryan has the time — let alone the inclination — to eat in a mall food court

* Also, it bears repeating: No matter how many copies of Music Speaks she ends up selling, Candice Glover is undoubtedly one of the greatest vocalists ever to come off this show. That mind-blowing string of notes at the end of “Same Kinda Man” made me hoot and holler just like Keith.

* Randy used the word “intonation” — so evidently, even he got Harry’s memo about “pitchy” not being in the dictionary. The question is, can he go the rest of the season without uttering the “p” word?

* I don’t think Jake Bugg would’ve made the Season 13 Top 30.

What did you think of Season 13 Top 13 results night? Did the right contestant get the boot? If not, who should’ve been cut? And how did you feel seeing/hearing Candice Glover back on the Idol stage? What about Jake Bugg? Sound off in the comments!

– I thought Candace had a beautiful voice, but I didn’t like her music.
– Jake Bugg wasn’t horrible. I like his kind of music. Does he sing well? No, but his song wasn’t terrible.
– I am not too surprised with the bottom 3. Malaya was horrible. Her energy is great, but everything is usually all over the place. MK was so utterly boring. She moved a little bit more than usual, but the song choice was horrible, and I didn’t feel emotion. Kristen was no surprise. Kristen is boring but more boring. That song choice, her use of notes in the song were bad, too pageanty…
– You no the judges were hoping for MK and Malaya to be safe. I hope they realized the mistake of letting Kristen in. We all knew they weren’t going to save her either. She stank with her save song. Her key was so bad. When she goes to sing those high notes she can’t hit them.
– Why have Randy? He is useless. Jimmy at least said “you stink, you’re going home.”

Michael Slezak saying that Jake Bugg wouldn’t make this seasons top 30 is just so patently stupid. Guess what Michael, either would Neil Young, or Bob Dylan, or Bruce Springsteen, or Tom Waits. Being an artist isn’t all about have a perfect sounding singing voice, It’s about writing songs, and playing your instrument, and having a voice that appeals to people whether it sounds perfect or not. I think his mind has become numb from watching and commenting on these shows for so long, step outside this bubble Michael, there is a big old musical world out there away from reality shows.

For me Jake is like all those guys you just mention. What you find dull in terms of nuances others find it heavenly. His voice is an acquire taste and truth be told wasn’t impress at the beginning but near the end didn’t mind it at all. I don’t find Briston appealing at all. Everyone has different taste in music and it is okay.

I don’t think Michael was a P2 fan, but I do agree with your point in general. I’d much rather listen to Jake, whose voice is not perfect, than someone who is note perfect but deadly dull in their delivery. Unfortunately the latter type tends to do better on shows like Idol and The Voice. But in the marketplace, the voice that is flawed but has character and emotional depth usually wins out.

Which is why I’ve never been a fan of WGWGs on Idol (forgot about the ones on The Voice) except for Paul McDonald a.k.a. the second coming of Destroyer’s Dan Bejar. I love Haley, but if America wanted to crown another WGWG that season, he should’ve won over Scotty.

Maybe you’re all reading something into Michael’s comment that I’m not. I completely agree with him that Jake Bugg probably would not have made the Top 13 of Idol. That I think that doesn’t mean I don’t like his music. I bought his first record, and enjoy it. I think most of the guest singers that appear on Idol probably wouldn’t make it to the Top 13 of Idol. It’s a neutral statement, not so much a slam.

No surprise on who was eliminated; but MK over Dexter in the bottom three. I guess the country boys stick together. Shocker America three girls in the bottom three. There is everyone’s answer on why Kristen was picked and we had an extra girl. AI knows that Americans voters hate females. I will say MK wasn’t great but really people enjoyed Dexter? Who is going next week Malaya or MK personally Malaya never should have made it. Candice did well but I do not like Cried at all.

I thought is was significant that Jena was a wild card pick and yet she was not in the bottom 3.
I think the voting closely reflected what happened on stage this week. I personally liked MK’s performance more than Dexter’s (or Emily’s). But it was not a great performance.

Too bad it wasn’t Malaya, I didn’t like all of her theatrics in the results show. I gotta say I miss Jimmy Iovine, I miss someone just saying it without explanation or pity. That should have been a bottom 3 based on the performance from previous night. Yeah it didn’t have 2 male country singers in it but there is still time for that. I also feel MK should have been told that song choice is where it’s at for her. I didn’t like Satisfaction at all. Ryan should never ask before the song if they plan on using the save- I would have easily said “No” but know they can’t do that. Positive note-I really do like the judges.

I also saw no change in Candice- it’s nice to stick to who you are but over a year in the industry I was expecting improvement. She doesn’t have a super star personality to me but she has a lot of talent! Too bad not in love with the songs though.

Agree. Everyone last year got made when we said no star quality but beautiful voice. I hope she makes it on the R&B genre, but with these songs I am not so sure. After pushing her album back you think they could of come up with decent songs to give her a shot.

I was a little taken back when I saw Candace. There were articles that claimed she slimmed down so much after Idol but to me she looked like she put on a lot of weight. I also did not like how made up she was. I also found the background pictures to be distracting. I know it has nothing to do with her singing but it just was an observation. As far as her voice is concerned I did buy her album and though it is good it is not something I can listen to often. It is just not my music taste.

I was a huge Idol fan for years before I finally threw in the towel and moved over to The Voice. Being that I LOVE Harry Connick, Jr., I tuned in this year (regularly) for the first season since Simon left. I was pleasantly surprised. But now that the live shows are here, I’m quickly getting bored. Other than Majesty and Jessica Meuse, I really just don’t love any of them. They are all good singers in their own right, but something is missing. Usually by now I feel a little more invested in them. Something is off and I don’t know what it is, but regardless I’m about to bow out once more and just read your recaps.

IMO what’s missing is the undefinable “Star” quality. Adam had it from the first audition. David Cook, Carrie U., Fantasia, Scotty etc. had it. The charisma that takes over when that person enters your view, is missing from this year’s roster. Sam looks like the self effacing, embarrassed virgin in the teen comedy. Alex looks like the jerk who makes fun of the uncool kids in middle school. Jessica is Ally Sheedy in Breakfast Club. The country boys are Cooter from Dukes and Goober from Gomer Pyle. Malaya is a Cosby kid with ADD and CJ seems embarrassed to be there. The rest are in similar states. Where’s the dazzle?

ha ha ha, I caught Randy using the word “Intonation” instead of “pitchy”.
Loved, loved, loved Candice’s performance! She was marvelous. I agree with everything you’ve written, Mr. Slezak – she is one of the best vocalists this program has ever produced. Keith is a RIOT! I love him more every week.
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Either Malaya or Kristen should have been sent home. .

I was very amused by Randy’s use of “intonation” as well, but later in the show, someone – Keith? – DID say “pitchy,” which (wisely) went unchallenged by Harry.
We ARE hearing “goosies” from time to time, though (shudder).

Oh yes, I believe Keith used the “p” word and Jennifer has said “goosies” more than once. All in all, though, the judging is far better this year – and they are actually JUDGING and offering constructive, honest comments.

I have notice there is no buzz about C.J. Me thinks his time will be short. I almost forgot about him too until the camera guy picked the most craziest time to show him to America. He was all smiles at first–now every time the camera catches him off guard in the lounge he has a painful look on his face.

The right person went home this week. I remember being surprised Kristen was even sent to Hollywood but for some reason the judges didn’t see the pageanty wooden performances I did from her from the very beginning (and obviously I wasn’t alone). I think MK was in the bottom three because the song was unfamiliar and perhaps, like me, people didn’t like it when they heard it so they were not inspired to vote for her. Malaya needs to calm down. Nail her feet to the floor next week and give her a ballad.

Dexter is rapidly losing whatever appeal he ever had for me. I want CJ to step it up because I really like his heart, but he has to step it up.

All that said, I thought Kristen’s was one of the classiest exits from Idol I’ve seen.

They should cut to the chase already. The three in the final chairs have no chance to win as well as several of the guys who were awful. Not to have one of them in those chairs is a joke, Looks like one of four girls will win this season already but I guess we must suffer through more of their below average performances before they go.

I am grateful to read the shoutouts for Candice’s magnificent vocals. Wish I liked the material as much as does Michael though. Not too surprised by the results. I hope for the show’s sake that this isn’t a harbinger.

What’s really funny is I don’t think the Voice can hold a candle to Idol. I watch both shows. I like a lot of The Voice contestants. I find the show funny at times. But IMO it is never must see TV like Idol often is. It is just fun TV if they are not having a bad year.
It always feels like The Voice fans are trying to convince themselves it is a better show when they come into an Idol thread to post about how they like The Voice better. The Voice was on this week. There are articles for The Voice this week where people can go post about all its wonderfulness…
When The Voice started it had 2 advantages over Idol: 1) the judges were more likeable and funny. 2) many of the songs were more current than most of the Idol songs. IMO Idol now has got its act together on those fronts, and it comparable to The Voice now for both of those considerations.

I agree with your second statement, and I watch AI and not The Voice. I prefer to focus on the contestants, not the celebrity judges competing with each other for attention and titles, manipulating their “team members” by pitting them against one another, giving the songs that don’t suit them, staging them like they’re stars that they aren’t yet close to being, and then unceremoniously throwing them overboard. But if you like celebrity contests, you’ve got your show and I’ve got mine–the more straightforward contest without all the bells, whistles, gimmicks and tricks.

I agree that to each his own in regards to the two shows sybi, but, Idol manipulates it’s contestants as much if not more than the voice, and always has. Talk about getting unceremoniously thrown overboard, how about getting all excited about going to Hollywood and then never getting out of the airport. How about making the top 30 and then never getting a chance to sing again after going through all of that hell to make it. I like both shows, The Voice more than Idol, but to say that Idol doesn’t manipulate, and doesn’t have bells and whistles, is ridiculous. And, the one thing the Voice doesn’t have. Randy Jackson. The judges/mentors on The Voice do have more control, and that’s not always a good thing, but, no one gets dumped on The Voice without at least getting a chance to sing first. At least the public gets a chance to either agree or disagree with the judges decisions, based on what they have seen during the show. What happened to Kenzie, she made the top 30, became one of my favorites, and I never got a chance to see her again. To me that’s manipulation.

I think the added manipulation of The Voice is that the coaches continue to control the contestants right thru the last episode. The coaches often pick the songs and it seems they at least have the option to disapprove of a song the contestant picked, and change it. The coaches also seem to have a lot of influence over the way the song is sung and the staging, etc.
Idol is not without manipulations like this. There are times when the song list is very short, there have been stories of a contestant being strongly influenced by the producers to sing a certain song, and there have been stories of contestants not getting a song cleared only to have a different contestant perform it weeks later. But with Idol this is not the case for every contestant almost every week.
IMO Idol is more unexpected and compelling precisely because the contestants have more leeway either to fall on their faces or to really amaze us.

Wait a minute, did Ryan REALLY say that 71 million votes had been cast, or did I hear that incorrectly? This time of the season, it’s usually in the neighborhood of around 25 or 30 million, no? If it IS 71 million, how did that happen, with limited voting for the first time this season? Could it be that folks who in past seasons were unwilling to spend several hours voting to make their votes count finally felt their votes WOULD count? If so, cheers to limited voting (cheers to limited voting in any case)!

There may be some new voters, but the primary reason for such a huge increase is the introduction of SuperVoting and Google voting. Between those two methods, you can now cast up to 100 votes per contestant with just a few clicks of a mouse. So, while voting is technically limited, it has become much much much more efficient. I literally voted 500 times this week in less than 5 minutes. In past seasons, I dialed in at most 20 votes an episode, if I voted at all.

I honestly don’t think the power voters ever added that much percentage wise. 1000 power voters voting 500 times each would add a measly 1/2 a million to the vote total.
After Facebook voting was introduced for season 10 the finale totals went up by about 30 million votes. Seasons 7 and 8 had just under 100 million votes for the finale. Seasons 10 and 11 had about 130 million votes (IIRC 1 of those seasons had something over 120 mil and the other just over 130 mil). At that time you could cast a total of 50 votes per Facebook, not per contestant. Facebook voting takes just a few minutes to cast 50 votes. People who normally would have called in just a couple votes, could instead cast 50 votes in less time.
As of this season, Facebook voting allows 50 votes per contestant. So someone with multiple favorites can easily cast hundreds of votes in minutes.
My guess is that the Google voting is a big hit. People who watch the show and normally have never bothered to figure out the voting could now just Google something and have the voting option pop up for them.

And all this voting is a good idea because????
Ryan gets to say 71 million votes came in, like somehow that is an honest assessment of viewership.?
I have watched the show all 13 seasons and have only voted in season 9 for crystal, multiple times.
I have never seen how letting people vote hundreds of times for the same artist helps the integrity of the show

Eh, I’m not so concerned with the show’s “integrity” – which may be dubious in any case – as with the ease of voting. If I can now cast multiple votes in just a few seconds with a couple of clicks, I’m happy.

I have always been zen about all the different voting options. The same rules apply for all the contestants and all the voters. Any way you slice it up, the contestants at the bottom are probably the contestants with the lowest number of individuals voting and the contestants at the top are probably the ones with the highest number of individuals voting. Now it is easy for a casual voter to cast 50 votes online. But the same applies for all contestants and all their casual voters. Some voters will still just cast 1 vote because that seems fair to them, but every contestant will have voters like that. Unless there is some reason why some particular contestant would have far higher percentage of the disadvantaged phone voters, the easier online voting probably will not impact to the result.
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The real interesting twist with the current rules is people can now easily cast votes for multiple contestants and they can weigh how many they give to each. In the past, if I really liked 3 contestants I might decide I needed to throw all my votes to the one I liked most. If I were only taking the time to call and vote once or twice, then I would only vote for my favorite. It I were heavily invested and willing to take time voting many times, I would still usually throw all the votes to my favorite. Every vote took time so any votes cast for my 2nd or 3rd favorite meant less votes for my most favorite. That was then. Now I can only vote 50 times per method per contestant but it is a very quick process. So contestants who are the 2nd or 3rd or 4th picks for a lot of voters might now stay in the contest longer than they would have with the previous voting systems. This could make a big difference as the season goes on. I am not sure it is better or worse, just different. It may be a better way to determine who has the least overall support each week.
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I noticed other people weighed how much they voted for different contestants. I naturally did the same thing. I voted for multiple contestants but gave them a different amount of votes based on how much I liked their performance this weeks.

@ Tealeaves.. for the most part you’re probably right, no matter how many times you let someone vote, it will probably all break down the same in the end in terms of who is a fan favorite and who isn’t. But I also think I depends on the type of artist as well. Seems to me that fans of artist like Crystal and Haley, were not the type of fans who were going to sit at their phone and vote a million times, I know for me Crystal was and still is my favorite artist ever on idol, and the only one I ever cast a vote for, but I wasn’t going to sit there and vote 100 times. I went and bought her music post idol to show support. I think with limited voting, Dexter would have been in the bottom 3 where he belonged, where as fans of a singer like MK are also probably not the kind of fans who are going to vote multiple times and she ended up in the bottom 3 where she didn’t belong.

I just wanted to comment about MK. I feel like she has great potential to do really well. What she needs to do is bust out the guitar. She’s like a female Jason Castro. She doesn’t need to be a powerful singer. Also, I’ve seen comments about how she should either turn her baseball cap around or take it off. I disagree wholeheartedly. The baseball cap is a part of who she is. Like it or not, she’ll have it on because god forbid! She actually is being comfortable in her own skin!! The baseball cap isn’t really that big of a problem anyways. It’s just a baseball cap. That’s it. Build a bridge and get over it. She doesn’t need to take it off. If she’s comfortable with it on then, so be it. It’s great! I think she looks amazing. She needs to work on more important things like stage presence and her voice before she even dabbles with the thought of taking the cap off. I actually agree with Randy (for once) that MK is already starting to blossom. The stage presence comes with time too. She seems really shy so, putting MK on a time limit, “Oh, if MK doesn’t improve her stage presence in one or two weeks, she’s gone.” We are ONLY at top 12. Give the girl a chance. She has never performed in front of a live studio audience before and this is also ONLY her second live performance in general. What do you expect? You expect her to become outgoing and look like a superstar in one weeks time? Gosh. The whole point of Idol is to see someone grow throughout the competition. MK can’t grow if people don’t give her time to do that. She is actually really talented if people will just give her a few more weeks to become situated with everything.

It was an accident. Gosh. It’s just that I haven’t had a favorite on Idol in such a long time and Idol means the world to me. MK is the first favorite I’ve had in a long long long while. She does have a lot of potential and she is definitely not a fluke. I did post common sense though. How do you expect people to grow if you only give them a week or two? It’s not fair.

Think what you want to think. It WAS an accident. I have /NEVER/ posted on this site before now and don’t know how to use it. I am now getting the hang of it. Way to make a person feel horrible about themselves.

I think MK needs to lose the backwards cap. She might like it, but it is not new and hip. It does not help her image. It does not help her get a dingle vote. They all need to grow over the course of the show and for her part of that might be that she needs to update her look a little more.

Again. the baseball cap is MK’s signature look. It’s a part of who she is. If she loses the cap, the performance will be even more awkward than the one she just had. She won’t be herself without the baseball cap. That’s like Michelle Chamuel losing her big black glasses. That’s what Michelle is known for. MK is known for wearing the backwards baseball cap. Again, I guess none of you care about giving her time to grow. She needs at least 3-4 weeks to do that. She can’t all of the sudden have this amazing stage presence down in a matter of a week. Give her a chance.

Whatever. I’m done here. I’m obviously fighting a losing battle. MK is comfortable with the baseball cap on. If she takes it off, no one will like it and will still complain. Same thing for if she ever busts out the guitar. Everyone will say that she’s hiding behind it. It’s best if she’s just eliminated anyways. Everyone will be happy.

Elizabeth, I DO like MK and like you, I didn’t think that her performance on Wednesday was bottom 3 bad. (Certainly, at the very least, Dexter was worse.) Also, yes, she needs to develop stage presence, as a few others do, and no, that’s not usually done overnight.
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That said, the baseball cap is not a good look and given the number of comments regarding the “Bieber look alike” aspect and the Bieb’s current public meltdowns, it’s a look from which she should want to disassociate herself — post haste!
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You mentioned Michelle Chamuel’s “signature black glasses.” I think there is at least one key difference: Michelle comes across as knowing who she is and wants to be and being comfortable in that, whether (or not) anyone else agrees. MK isn’t there yet, which means that this opportunity on AI could give her options to experiment.

Jake Bugg reminded me of a cross between Bob Dylan and Neil Young with that nasaly voice. I’m sure he’s talented, I trust Keith’s judgement when he says Bugg’s material is good, and he is cute. Not my cup of tea but I wish him well in his career.

On the surprises–I doubt that JLo was actually “surprised” at the intrusion into her dressing room. And as far as the “not unanimous” vote, I don’t think that necessarily means any of the judges voted to keep her. The vote was not unanimous to keep her–which could mean that all three voted not. I know that’s semantics, but maybe they’re playing that game. But if someone did vote to keep her, it was JLo. She just wants to keep everyone.

@both of you: I like Jake Bugg but saying Candice is less talented than him is like saying you can sing as good as her. And obviously you two haven’t heard of people like Sharon Jones, Jill Scott, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Janelle Monae, Mavis Staples, and Jazmine Sullivan. In no way are they just belting-divas, and I believe Candice can follow their footsteps. As much as I love singer-songwriters, just because one doesn’t strum a guitar, doesn’t mean they can’t write songs.

One more thing: you can’t expect Candice to come out with an album filled with her own decisions since she won a singing competition who wanted her to do as they say. She may not exhibit much songwriting skills, but don’t count her out just yet.

Mr. Adam Fachry, I applaud your response above! While I’m generally one of those who are inclined to be more appreciative of those who can write, play and sing, I also have enough musical training to know that an exceptional musician is just that!
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As illustration, I just checked out Itzhak Perlman on Wikipedia. Granted Wikipedia is known for a number of things including inaccuracies and incompleteness. I saw nothing that indicates that he composes, although I also didn’t see anything about him conducting nor did I see mention of his branching out to include some jazz in his repertoire (and I know he has done the latter two).
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The point of that exercise is to point out that exceptional musicianship comes in a variety of forms. Candice Glover has a voice, that with no formal training, is absolutely transcendent. I truly hope that “next time around” (regarding a second album) she will be able to find the right combination that allows to her to soar.

Dexter, Malaya and MK totally sucked, Kristen was not at her best which I think had to do with the screwed up sound as she pulled her ear piece right after starting. It’s sad when talent like that doesn’t get a little farther, I’m sure the main audience, Cougars and teen girls aren’t casting a lot of votes from a pretty girl that seems to have it all.

@Leah Thanks. I’m just about done here anyways. No matter what MK does, she’ll get criticized for it. Her performance Wednesday was not horrific. It wasn’t great either but, not as bad as everyone is saying. Heck, everything that Lazaro sang sounded way worse than MK sounded Wednesday night. Plus, the baseball cap is NOT A BIG DEAL. Her VOICE and STAGE PRESENCE is more important than some stupid ball cap. Geez. Build yourselves a rainbow bridge with glitter and sparkles and freaking get over it! You all are acting like her performance is the worst performance in Idol history. It wasn’t THAT bad. Give the girl a break! Gosh.

Kristen was actually my second pick to go home this week. As uninspiring as she was, I thought Malaya’s performance was Sanjaya-bad. Also, I’d like to say that HCJ pulled me back to Idol. I am one of those who preferred The Voice. At this point, I like both of them equally for different reasons.

I like Harry a lot, too, but I love Idol and I’ll be watching to the last day of the last season. It’s been a great show. Highlights over the years for me personally have been David Cook, Adam Lambert, and Phil Philips.

Wow, I hadn’t been watching the season or even following these blogs past the first couple of weeks (part too busy, huge part JLo+Randy back and eventually ultra huge part the Olympics were on, how could they run against the Olympics? no way the heck I’m watching Idol, or anything else, over the Olympics, heck they could have had Elise, Haley and Adam as the three judges and I’m still not watching over the Olympics). But I did tape the girls top 15 epsidoe for later viewing, which I just got to now.
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My first impression was oh no. After reading the blog about the first few weeks here it sounded all very promising (ignoring the whole JLo/Randy thing) but man something felt wrong about the top ten they sent out. Granted not having seen the show, it’s dicey for me to say that BUT well the fact that I still sensed it seems like something really, really bad perhaps:
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They claimed they chose which 10 of 15 based upon rehearsals of these finals songs and yet they bashed some of the songs and choices so how does that add up? How could they say it just didn’t work at all and yet also claim that was a top 10 rehearsal choice??? Sounds like the show is all fake again, no?? Once it goes live, it goes fake? Same as ever?
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And I did see Jillian on XFactor, maybe something horrible happened to her since then, but she was way the heck better on XFactor than a great many of the girls they sent out there and I also did by random chance catch a bit of Austin flipping channels at one point and from my brief intro to her there she also seemed way the heck better than a great many they sent out. So how could they have seen rehearsals and how can they be being honest and leave those two out and send out some of the others they did? And for all I know there were even more messed up decisions left behind too. I have a strong suspicion that simply had to have been the case or am I wrong?
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Maybe they wanted so really weak ones out there so they could help along the top five they really wanted to get voted through, by lessening the competition? I suppose maybe that is sort of OK in that case, but it makes me think maybe the show is more of the same old nonsense again once the show goes live? But they even really put even the top five best in that top ten??
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OTOH the judge’s comments seemed to be a bit more reasonable and honest, overall, than expected, but then again they may have felt free since they were just setting up their chosen 5? And even that will all go to heck once it goes live live for top 12-13?

I also heard something about they tortured contestants sending them on a long bus ride to the airport of safety and made them sweat out the choice in ugly fashion?? Was it as bad as it sounds or nothing out of the ordinary?

@HTGR it has been a very good season overall. The first live show was a bit of a train wreck. Of the 15 girls who made the top 30, the judges picked only 10 to sing for votes. They picked several who really should have waited a year or two. They left out several girls who were easily distinguished from all the rest in genre and style. Several of the girls left out were contestants that many expected to go far in the competition based on their previous performances. Of the girls who did sing, even the best ones did not have a great night. So it was two hours filled with some solid performances, several train wreck performances, and a lot of irritation that the producers are once again cutting viable contestants to push others who are just not ready yet.
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The next night, for the guys, it was a better show. There was more logic to the 5 that were left out. There were 3 country guys and one of them was left out. He’s a good singer but you could see the logic of them deciding to cut down the group they needed to cut one of the 3 county singers. There were two 15/16 year olds who would probably be better off waiting another year or 2 anyway IMO. With the other 2 left out you could see similarities to guys that did get picked and it made sense (to me) that they picked who they did. Most of the performances were at least good and several were really good.
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The third live night was the voting results. The voting made sense given the performances of the week. (Good job America!) The judges then picked 5 contestants sing for 3 wild card slots. They picked well given who they had to choose from. Nothing is ever perfect. At every step of the way we lost at least one contestant who seems to be a better choice than at least one that got thru.
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To me, this is a really good group. It is reminiscent of seasons 5, 7, 8, 10, or 11 where we are starting with a diverse group of solid performers where almost any one of them can have a great night at any time. It is also more reminiscent of seasons 5 and 7, to me, where the judges don’t have 1 or 2 that they are pushing like crazy above all the others regardless of how the performance goes.

Thanks. Hah, I sure know how to pick ’em. So the one episode I decide to watch so far for the entire season is the single worst, most corrupt episode of the entire season hah. I knew something seemed fishy about it.
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At least it sounds like it’s been OK otherwise though, but all the same pretty bad they pulled such junk for the first live round, even if only for that. But I guess it’s not a lost cause.
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So much other stuff to do and these shows take so much time though that I think I’ll just wait on Idol and join in when it gets to be top 5 week and start watching then if it sounds like it’s on track and not reverted to like with the episode I saw. Maybe it will be a good top five.

So honest question, is is just me and/or the fact I missed so much that I don’t have a clue, but was the top 10 of 15s they sent out sort of a bad joke? And the show has gone totally fake after all the apparent early promise I had read about once it’s gone live?
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Not sure I had time for it and The Voice anyway. So The Voice is the better option??
I have to think so right? Shakira back, etc.
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I have to say the one episode I saw, top 15 girls, left me very worried, not even having seen most of them before (other than Jillian and Austin), to get a strong sense that something weird was up with who they sent out doesn’t seem promising.

@HTGR see my response above. There are a couple of girls that almost certainly would have made it thru the voting if they had been given a chance to sing. But the voting went well given the 10 girls that did sing. Then the judges put Gena thru as a wild card and she was not even in the bottom 3 this week.
Several good contestants who were cut before top 30 for unknown reasons. Several good contestants were cut from the top 30 and not allowed to sing. A couple contestants did not get the votes because of an off night but they were also promising. But after all that, we still have a solid 12 remaining.

My god Candice has bloated like a Beluga Whale…Lay off the expensive food lady! Then again I’d be depressed too and eat a lot if my album had the lowest amount of sales of any IDOL winner in history…proof again that a good voice is the only thing you need…(cough sex appeal, stage presence, etc)

Well, my fab 4 from day 1 are still here…Rose, Woolfe, Caleb and MK! So glad Briston wasn’t around…Worst top 30 performer ever! He sounded like a houndog on crack! And Sellars…most pimped singer ever…Harry LOVED her! And spencer??????? Real beuts, especially Briston…He should do comedy on AGT! These judges are not all there! And Many…the singer with the lisp…PURE COMEDY RELIEF! Shame on the judges!

We’ve got 12 who should be a circus act! We have Watson and no Briana Oakley or Melanie Porras! CRAZY! Melanie got cut in Hollywood…no audition! Judges loved her, especially Harry who was smiling in admiration which he never does! Check her out…Detrojt auditions! One of best singers ever! Sellars made top 15 girls! Great judges…GIMME A BREAK!